Speak shop links online spanish tutors

Special to The Miami Herald

ANTIGUA, GUATEMALA -- JILL REPLOGLE

Speak Shop currently employs 11 tutors -- nine in Guatemala and two in Nicaragua. Before they begin teaching for Speak Shop, the tutors learn how to use webcams and videoconference. They also learn to solve basic technical problems.

CONFIDENCE GROWS

''At first it was difficult,'' said Juárez, who didn't have much experience with computers before she started working with Speak Shop. ``But I began to lose my fear as I realized it wasn't as complicated as I first thought it was.''
Now she has mastered talking with her far-away student through her headset, simultaneously typing clarifications into a chat box and clicking to another folder to look for the day's homework. Tutors set their own price for their work, which now varies between $7 and $10 per hour. Speak Shop takes none of these earnings. However, tutors who use the local Spanish school's facilities to give online classes pay a small fee for the space.

Four of the tutors in Guatemala now work from home using their own equipment.

''The fact that they can have a computer and Internet at home is really concrete evidence of the economic change,'' Cindy Cooper said. Tutors use Speak Shop's software and online scheduling system for free, while the company makes money from a monthly membership fee charged directly to students -- from $9.99 to $39.99 depending on how many classes the students take. Still, lessons turn out to be cheaper than most language classes available in the United States.

Although still small, Speak Shop is growing rapidly. A total of 6,000 hours of lessons were offered in 2008 compared to just 3,700 the year before.

JOB-SPECIFIC CLASSES

Speak Shop also offers specialized programs for various professional fields and is accredited by the California Board of Registered Nursing to offer continuing education credits for nurses wanting to learn Spanish. No nurses have yet tried out the program.
Speak Shop has won recognition for focus on social responsibility. In 2005, the program won a prize for the ''Best Social Return on Investment'' from the SET Inventors Challenge: Social and Environmental Technology for the Developing World, a business plan competition for companies that generate social or environmental benefits in developing countries. It also was a finalist in PBS's Project Enterprise Contest in 2007. The contest recognizes creative, social entrepreneurship around the globe.

The Coopers admit that trying to run a socially responsible business has been challenging.
''We could do this the easy way and just bring on tutors who are in the United States, or in developed countries who speak English, have access to the Internet and so forth,'' said Cindy Cooper. ``But we're doing it the way that will have the most social impact.''
Juárez now works from home, has a job year-round and makes about twice as much money per hour as she does at the Spanish school in Antigua where she still teaches during tourist season. She said Speak Shop has been a lifesaver at a time when tighter travel budgets and the country's high crime rate are keeping visitors away.

Her student, Griffin, said she's sold on the price, flexibility and individually tailored lessons, plus the chance to learn about another culture and have a personal relationship with her tutor. ''While you're expanding your vocabulary, you're also creating an incredible bond with someone in Guatemala,'' Griffin said.

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